mHealth App Utilization Did Not Improve Self-Measured Blood Pressure

While researching the effectiveness of various methods for reducing systolic blood pressure, a recent JAMA Network study found that an enhanced smartphone app method was not more efficient than standard self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) methods.

These findings come as healthcare experts work to better understand how they can use mHealth apps for patient engagement and disease management.

According to this most recent assessment of nearly 2,100 patients across patients23 different health systems within the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet), the researchers found that app-based blood pressure monitoring is much more effective than standard care.

Researchers divided patients into two groups, one receiving care through an enhanced SMBP method that included a smartphone app and the other using a standard SMBP method, and found negligible difference

Researchers noticed that between the two groups, the average change in systolic blood pressure within 6 months was -10.8 mm Hg for the enhanced group and -10.6 mm Hg for the standard group.

Regarding secondary outcomes, the maintenance of blood pressure below 140/90 occurred in 32 percent of participants in the enhanced group, and 29 percent in the standard group.

Based on the results, researchers concluded that the enhanced method of SMBP using a smartphone application was not better than standard methods.

Despite this conclusion, previous studies reported mixed conclusions when implementing telehealth into care, tracking, and maintenance of blood pressure.

For example, a study from February 2022 found that remote patient monitoring (RPM) increased levels of engagement and control of blood pressure among patients who had previously faced a stroke. After recruiting study participants from a New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, researchers divided them into two groups and found that those receiving care through the intervention strategy experienced better outcomes than those receiving traditional care.

More research from February 2022 found that Black patients battling cardiovascular disease often lean toward text-based methods of recording blood pressure instead of an online patient portal.